Egypt mourns the passing of Pope John Paul II, writes Gamal Nkrumah Pope John Paul II had many admirers in Egypt and other parts of the Arab world, not least because of his uncompromising stand against the Gulf and Iraq wars and in favour of self-determination for the Palestinian people. Indeed, President Hosni Mubarak issued a statement saying John Paul II would be remembered throughout the region for his championing of Arab causes, particularly the rights of the Palestinians. Egypt, which has a dynamic minority of Roman Catholics based mainly in the urban centres of Cairo and Alexandria, announced three days of national mourning in honour of John Paul II. Egypt's 400,000 Catholics are divided among descendants of Levantine Maronite families who settled in Egypt in the 18th and 19th centuries, and adherents of the Coptic Catholic Church which is headed by the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, Stephanos II Ghattas. The Coptic Catholic Church, which numbers 250,000 members, was founded in the 17th century by Franciscan and Jesuit missionaries, and was first allowed to build churches in Egypt by the Ottoman authorities in 1829. An Egyptian delegation, headed by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, is to attend the Pope's funeral on Friday. The secretary-general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, has also announced his intention to be present, alongside representatives of both the Coptic Church and Egypt's Muslims. Memorial services have already been planned in Roman Catholic churches across the country, including Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in central Cairo, the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Maadi and the Sacred Heart Convent and School in Alexandria. John Paul II visited Egypt on 24 February 2000, a lightening stopover during which 1,500 turned up to hear him deliver a sermon at the Cairo Stadium. The much publicised visit was welcomed by both the Egyptian authorities and the Holy See. Tributes to the late Pope have poured in from many quarters, The grand imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, said "the one attribute that stood out most was that he was respectful of the world's other faiths," while Pope Shenouda III praised his advocacy of peace and justice in international affairs. Certainly John Paul II's social and moral conservatism struck a chord in this part of the world. He was strongly opposed to the ordination of women, sexual relations outside the confines of marriage and homosexuality. He was, too, uncompromising on doctrinal matters, though there was little dispute over doctrine or church politics among Egypt's Catholics, who remained unswervingly loyal to the pontiff. Those issues that pitted liberal Catholics against their conservative co-religionists in some countries appear to have been of little concern to Egypt's Catholics. John Paul II's opposition to liberation theology, which aligned progressive segments of the Catholic priesthood with the poor in Latin America, for example, went unnoticed in Egypt and the Arab world.
